1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device comprising an interrupt job display unit, an interrupt job selection unit, and an interrupt control unit. More specifically, the interrupt job display unit displays, in a window, an image forming job (an interrupt job) that is requested while another image forming job is being performed. The interrupt job selection unit allows an operator to selects whether or not to permit the execution of the interrupt job displayed by the interrupt job display unit. The interrupt control unit performs the interrupt job when an operator uses the interrupt job selection unit to permit the execution of the interrupt job.
2. Background Information
Generally, in an image forming device, if one or more other image forming jobs are requested while an image forming job is being executed, the newly requested image forming jobs are added to a waiting list in the order they are requested. Then, after the current image forming job is completed, the other image forming jobs in the waiting list are sequentially performed according to their order on the list (i.e., the first in/first out rule). However, even when printing has to be completed in a hurry, or even when an image forming job only requires one sheet to be printed, the newly requested image forming jobs cannot be performed until the current image forming job is completed. Therefore, conventional image forming devices have been inconvenient for users in this regard.
In order to resolve the above described problem, Japan Patent Application Publications JP-A-11-168590 and JP-2003-162387 disclose image forming devices that can be commonly used with external devices, and which comprise a display unit, a selection unit, and a sequence control unit, respectively. As shown in FIG. 10, if a printing job is requested by an external device while a copying job is being executed, the display unit displays the fact that a printing job is being requested. The selection unit will present an operator with the option of accepting the interrupt request (i.e., the printing job) or the option of rejecting the interrupt request. If the operator, via the selection unit, selects the option of accepting the printing job, the sequence control unit terminates execution of the copy job, and executes the printing job of the interrupt request. On the other hand, if the operator selects the option of rejecting the printing job, the sequence control unit will continue with the current copy job.
In the above described conventional image forming device, even if an image forming job is being executed, the fact that another image forming job is being requested will be displayed. Because of this, the requested image forming job can be selectively performed, and thus functionality of the image forming device is enhanced. However, situations in which a plurality of image forming jobs are requested while an image forming job is being executed are not taken into consideration. Therefore, it is necessary to further improve the way interrupt jobs are displayed and selected from a plurality of other interrupt jobs.
For example, when a plurality of interrupt jobs are requested, interrupt job windows that show the interrupt jobs being requested, and allow an operator to input a selection in order to permit or reject the execution of the interrupt jobs, can be displayed on a touch panel display unit. However, when the interrupt job windows corresponding to the plurality of the requested interrupt jobs are displayed next to each other on the display unit, the number of the interrupt job windows will increase in accordance with the increase in the number of the image forming jobs requested. Because of this, it will be difficult to display a large number of interrupt job windows in a limited display area.
In addition, the interrupt job display unit can be set to display the interrupt job windows next to each other by reducing the display area of each of the interrupt job windows in accordance with the increase in the number of the interrupt jobs requested. In this situation, the area of each of the interrupt job windows may become too small when a large number of interrupt jobs are requested. Thus, it will be difficult to display the interrupt job windows in a way that allows an operator to accurately identify each.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved image forming device, which is capable of displaying a plurality of image forming jobs in windows as interrupt jobs in a way that the display area of these windows are not limited to the extent that the windows are unrecognizable. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.